


Sinister Shadows

by bukkunkun



Series: Magic Doesn't Exist [3]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Magical Girls, Canon-Typical Violence, Cecil is a Magical Girl, Double Entendre, Double Life, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magical Girls, Monsters, Strangulation, Typical Night Vale Violence, Typical Night Vale Weirdness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-23
Updated: 2013-09-23
Packaged: 2017-12-27 10:28:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/977688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bukkunkun/pseuds/bukkunkun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos gets a warm welcoming to the halls of NVCR's radio station.</p><p>Cecil gets a plus point for trying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sinister Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE HEADCANON AND IT'S SO FLIPPING CUTE PLEASE I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS BECAUSE I KNOW I DID
> 
> ALSO IT HAS ACTUAL ~*DEVELOPMENT*~ WHEE
> 
> NOT ENOUGH VIOLENCE BUT EH MAYBE NEXT TIME WHEN THERE ARE HAPLESS NIGHT VALEIANS THAT ARE AVAILABLE FOR MURDERING
> 
> EDIT: GODDAMNIT EPISODE 33

“Hi. My name is—”

“Carlos the Scientist?” Dana asked, a little smirk on her lips as she led Carlos through the hallway, and the man paused in the middle of speaking to look down at her, an eyebrow raised, as he tried to remember why the denim jacket the girl was wearing looked so familiar.

“… Yeah, how did you—?”

“Press conference. NVCR was there, remember?” Dana smiled, holding out her hand for him to shake. “I’m Dana, I’m an intern here.”

“Dan—wait a _minute_ ,” Carlos’ eyes widened in realisation as he took her hand, “ _Dana_? I remember you, you were at the po—”

“Sshhhh!” she hushed him, grabbing his mouth to silence him with her free hand. “You aren’t supposed to remember that! I thought you were—”

“So I _was_ right!” Carlos frowned, pulling her hand away from his mouth, “That-that magical girl—uh, guy, Cecil, he’s here, isn’t he?”

“Hey, wait a sec!” Dana began to protest, as Carlos strode forward, past her towards the sound booth, when suddenly the lights above them flickered, and a great groan shook the entire radio station, alarming both Carlos and Dana, who stumbled as the entire hallway shook and blinked in and out of vision.

“Great, now what?” Carlos yelled, his voice slightly cracking in nervous fear, as Dana grit her teeth, shaking her head disapprovingly.

“Ohh, they’ve done it _this_ time,” she said, pulling out her phone, light suddenly shining from it brightly, and Carlos gaped at her as she waved her hand over the phone’s decorative gem, a glowing bulb of a stone appearing from it, before it enveloped her in bright light, forcing him to close his eyes to shield them. When he opened them again, his eyes widened when he saw a large rifle in Dana’s hands, blades at the barrel and handle, steaming with smoke. The intern looked exactly the same, but after watching so much TV when he was a kid, Carlos was _sure_ that was a transformation sequence, damn it, what the heck is up with Night Vale?

“… Wh- _where_ —?” He began to ask, but Dana waved the barrel around, slicing the nearby shadow monster in two, earning her a screech of pain and howls as it disappeared from their plane of existence.

“No time to explain!” she cut him off, “Head to the men’s bathroom! You’ll be safe there!”

“Where is it?” he yelled over the sound of approaching shadow creatures, their hissing and growling filling the air as more and more grew out from the floor. One of them grabbed at his foot, and panicked, Carlos let out a yell—

 _BANG_.

The tentacle that grabbed at his foot, with a cry of pain, pulled away from him, a bullet hole smoking from it. Carlos looked at Dana, who was pointing her rifle at it, smoke trailing from its barrel.

“Two corridors down, turn left at the first turn,” she told him coolly, “You’ve got a service firearm with you, right?” At this, Carlos nodded, and she grinned. “Okay, this time make sure you _hit_ something instead of just firing randomly, okay?”

Carlos blinked at her and she winked at him. His eyes widened.

“ _You_ shot the monster at the post office.”

“Yeah, but Cecil thinks you did it, please don’t tell him I did it.” She dismissed, “Now _go_.”

“R-right,” Carlos stammered, jamming his Geiger counter into his lab gown pocket, and pulling out his _tío_ ’s handgun he had told himself to bring, despite his own protests that he was going to be _fine_ , but of course, Night Vale just _had_ to fuck up even _that_ plan. It was, really, just an investigation he had been meaning to do all over town—check for radiation, maybe that was causing all this _madness_ , and not _magic_ , but now, he was having second thoughts.

His sneakers squeaked against the immaculate ground of the station’s hallways, as he could hear the sound of malevolent monsters growling and hissing as they followed after him, even after he turned the corner—

“ _Shit_!” he swore loudly, skidding to a halt as he saw another shadow being heading towards him from the other end of the corridor, dripping black dark sludge and tentacles, both thin and thick were slowly writhing above the air.

Dozens of pairs of violet eyes were in the midst of the black blob coming at him, and Carlos _knew_ he was severely outnumbered. Desperately, he turned his head to look behind him, only to realise his pursuers were still there, still equally moving at frighteningly slow yet gradual speeds, growls and hisses growing stronger as he stood there, panicked, like a deer caught in headlights.

Carlos’ eyes widened upon seeing the men’s bathroom’s door—it was only several feet away from him, and he hoped his feet were fast enough to carry him there.

He sprinted for the door—

But suddenly, a viscous-dripping tentacle wrapped around his ankle and he fell forward, landing heavily, the wind knocked out of his lungs as he fell. Panicked, Carlos grabbed for the gun, pulled the safety off and closed his eyes, aiming randomly before firing.

He heard the pained screech of the monster that had pulled him down, and felt the burn of recoil up his arm, but adrenaline in his systems numbed his arms as he got up shakily, patting his lab coat’s pockets to check for the Geiger counter,  before continuing to stumble for the men’s lavatory.

He was too slow, of course, out of air and tired and scared, and suddenly a tentacle wrapped around his throat, choking him, as he dropped his gun, hands grappling at the tentacle around his neck, desperate to get it off him and for precious air to go into his abused lungs.

His throat burned, his eyes watered, and he could feel panic trickling into his senses as his legs began to buck and kick, convulsing and desperate, as his body fought to keep itself alive, his nails, unfortunately blunt, but sturdy, dug into surprisingly _real_ darkness that was slowly wringing air out of his lungs.

His vision swam. His glasses were askew on his face, and Carlos knew he was running out of time. He racked his brain, thinking about how exactly long does it take to strangle a 35-year-old one-seventy-something pound man, but he was running out of oxygen and all he could think of was frilly skirts and garter belts and stockings flying around in his face, kicking away monsters—wait, _what_?

Carlos blinked, and he took a deep breath instinctively, only to find out that he _could_ , in fact, breathe properly now, and, taking a few more gulps of air, he blinked several times, to clear his vision, as he adjusted his glasses.

He realised he was now sitting on the ground, his back propped against the wall, and that in the hallway in front of him, he could see a figure in purple beating away monsters left and right with what looked like black cables with microphones at the end of them.

He rubbed his eyes and he realised he was looking at that magical girl—uh, _guy_?—fighting, warding off shadows left and right with a pair of black heavy-duty cables, with microphones that had _jaws_ and _teeth_ and were snarling and biting and tearing at the monsters, and a staff that had a microphone was in his hands, glowing eerily purple as spell after spell was cast to fight off the shadow beings.

“Cecil?” he mumbled, getting up, and he caught the magical girl (eh, _boy_ —eh, _fuck it_ )’s attention, a smile spreading across his face that seemed to brighten up the corridor.

“Carlos! You’re okay!” he gushed, hurrying over to Carlos and pressing himself against his chest in a hug of sorts, soft, gloved hands patting his hair and stroking it, as Cecil’s smile widened. “You remember me.”

“Uh, it’s kinda hard to forget something like this,” Carlos gestured at the dress Cecil was wearing, “And, uh, you’re a magical girl?”

“That’s correct,” Cecil smiled, “I’m Magical ☆ Octo Cecil Palmer Magika!”

Carlos blinked, and realised he actually _heard_ that star, and he shook his head.

“Okay… Can I just call you Cecil?”

“Of course!”

“… Right.” Carlos paused, “Wait, the monsters—” he stopped himself, when he realised the monsters had all but disappeared, and Cecil turned around (reluctantly tearing his eyes away from Carlos) to look, and surprise filled his face.

“They’re gone.”

“Okay, wait, Cecil,” Carlos firmly said, taking hold of Cecil’s bare (smooth, soft) shoulders, a little flush crossing his cheeks, “I heard your voice on the radio. Are you the NVCR broadcaster too?”

Cecil’s eyes widened, “Oh, Carlos, how did you figure out? Oh, you’re so, so smart—”

“Cecil, it’s kind of a no-brainer—”

“Oh, and you can fight, and you’re _so_ handsome,” Cecil continued to gush, and Carlos laughed nervously, flattered, unused to all the compliments, but he gently shook Cecil to make him stop.

“Cecil.” He firmly said again, he saw the magical girl practically _melt_ in his grip.

“Yes, Carlos?” he breathily sighed, and Carlos briefly thought of how lovely the sound of his name was rolling off Cecil’s tongue.

“Right, uh. We need to get to the bottom of this,” he gestured around them, “Peel back the layers, until we find out the truth. I need you. To help.” Carlos added the last phrase as an afterthought, mentally kicking himself for being so clumsy in his speech, but it seemed to have flown over Cecil’s head completely.

“Oh!” Cecil blinked, a pretty purple flush crossing his cheeks, “Carlos, that’s so… _forward_ of you, I-I don’t know if I could, _oh_ , but I do want to!” he fidgeted in Carlos’s hands, his fingers playing with the hem of his skirt, and Carlos could see his nails were painted a lovely shade of purple.

“That’s—that’s great,” Carlos began to say, but realisation dawned on him, “W-wait, I meant investigate the shadows. Investigate.” He repeated, trying to assure himself, and Cecil’s expression fell slightly, but the magical girl nodded.

“A-ah, yes, of course,” he stammered, clearly embarrassed as well, and awkwardly, Carlos let go of Cecil (suddenly realising that he had been holding on a little too long) and they stood there in the corridor for a long moment, the air around them awkward, and tense.

Cecil looked up at him, shyly, and Carlos couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face. “Right, so. Come with me?” he asked, holding out his hand, and Cecil stared at it, before a smile blossomed on his face.

“I’d love to.” Cecil sighed, his hand slipping easily into his, and together, they walked down the corridor, cautious, the hissing of Cecil’s Eldritch Microphones (as Cecil had called them,) the background noise accompanying Carlos’ sneakers’ squeaking, and Cecil’s shoes’ clicking along the length of the corridor.

“Where’s Dana?” Cecil asked, after a while of walking, and Carlos paused, causing Cecil to bump into him.

“Oh, sorry,” Carlos apologised, but Cecil shook his head, smiling. “Dana, though… oh, God, _Dana_ ,” he breathed, but Cecil shook his head, pointing to a thin slit on his forehead.

“I would know if she was in danger. I was just wondering where she is.”

“Well, she was taking me to see you—uh, well, you-the-radio-broadcaster, before all this happened. She, uh, she’s a magical girl too?”

“Only half,” Cecil replied, “She doesn’t need to transform to channel her powers, they’re not that powerful enough for a complete bodily change.”

“And you’re a full one, I’m guessing.”

“Oh, yes,” Cecil nodded, smiling, “You’re so bright, Carlos.”

At this, Carlos couldn’t help but smile, and blush a little. “Not really,” he replied, before reaching into his pocket with his free hand to pull out the Geiger counter. “I think I can find the source of this entire mess using this.”

“What is it?” Cecil asked, eyes wide as Carlos turned it on. Almost immediately it beeped loudly, as Cecil brought his hand near it, and the magical girl frowned. “Why did it get angry at me? Is it overprotective of you?”

“Cecil, you have high levels of radiation,” Carlos breathed, his eyes wide, and Cecil cocked his head.

“Is that the science-y term for magic?” he asked, cocking his head, his ribbon at his neck rustling, and Carlos shook his head.

“No, magic doesn’t exist, Cecil,” he said, and the magical girl laughed, and shook his head.

“Oh, silly, perfect Carlos, of course it does.” He waved his hand dismissively, and Carlos shot him an exasperated look. “Look, I’m perfectly fine, see? You _can_ use that to track down the source, though, right?”

“… Yeah, I guess.” Carlos frowned, recalibrating the dial to detect levels of radiation above the range Cecil was exuding only. “Cecil, do you feel anything weird when you’re in that form?”

“Aside from the eternal knowledge of the magicks of the world, and the ever-constant threat of peekers when I work? Nothing out of the ordinary, no.” Cecil shook his head, “Well, aside from these vultures I’m having fluttering around my stomach when I’m with you.”

Carlos was tempted to correct Cecil that they were butterflies, but he paused.

“Peekers?”

Cecil scowled, and shook his head. “ _Steeve Carlsberg_.” He snarled, and Carlos swore he saw sharp teeth in the magical girl’s mouth. “That photojournalist in town that absolutely loves to bash the government, ugh. What a _jerk_.”

“Wait, he peeks at you?” Carlos asked, incredulous. “Up your…?”

“Oh, he’s obsessed with me.” Cecil huffed, “All, ‘ _Oh, Cecil Magika is great, he actually fights against the government and their foolish plans, hoo-whee._ ’,” he mocked, hands waving as he rolled his eyes, “A pervert, too. He makes my skin _crawl_.”

Carlos dared a glance down at Cecil’s admittedly short skirt, and when he looked back up at Cecil’s face he realised Cecil noticed, and a blush crossed his face.

“Oh, God, I’m sorry, I just, uh,” he stammered, but Cecil smiled at him.

“I know.” He nodded, “It’s just that… the skirt comes with the magical girl thing, and, like, I like wearing short skirts, they’re cute,” he replied, “You should really drop by more often at the station, so you could see what I look like normally.”

“Uh, well, I, uh,” Carlos avoided Cecil’s flirty stare to intently stare at the Geiger counter. “I’ll see what I can do.”

He didn’t have to look at Cecil to know he was positively _glowing_ with happiness. The light from Cecil’s microphone staff was more than enough indication.

Soon, after a few yards of walking, the Geiger counter beeped loudly as they came to a stop in front of a closed door. “We’re here.” Carlos spoke up, “At the source of… whatever it was that almost killed me.”

Cecil took a look at the door, and immediately his expression fell, anger replacing it quickly as he approached the door (labelled, ‘ _MANAGEMENT_ ’ in garbled black font and black fingerprints over a frosted glass) and banged his fist on the splintered wood.

A letter slipped out from beneath the door and Cecil picked it up, hurriedly reading it before slamming his fist on the door again.

“Don’t you _Cecil, baby_ me, Daddy!” Cecil yelled at the door, “I _am_ so very mad! You almost killed him!”

Another letter slipped out from beneath the door, and Carlos could swear he saw writhing dark tentacles from behind the glass, and he paled as Cecil tossed the letter aside once more.

“ _Daddy_ ,” He whined, the vowels drawn-out and long, sounding more like a petulant child more than anything, and Carlos couldn’t help but admit that Cecil looked absolutely adorable in that dress of his, pouting with hand akimbo and skirt bouncing as he tapped his foot. “I can make decisions on my own, okay, Carlos is a _great_ guy, and I just want to get a boyfriend, okay, ugh, don’t _ruin_ things for me, Daddy!”

Okay, this was getting _weird_.

“Cecil, wait, that… _thing_ is your dad?” Carlos asked shakily, setting aside the fact that Cecil just declared his intentions with Carlos, and Cecil nodded, sighing exasperatedly.

“I’m so sorry, oh, this is _embarrassing_ ,” he whined, “My daddy’s a classified Eldritch, he’s, well,” Cecil sighed, his shoulders slumping, as suddenly another letter shot out from beneath the door. Carlos’ name was scribbled hastily on top of it, and the scientist bent down to pick it up. “Oh, my God, what did he tell you?”

 _TOUCH MY BABY AND I WILL EAT YOU ALIVE IN YOUR SLEEP. DICK FIRST_.

“He’s… charming.” Carlos managed after a moment of stunned silence, and Cecil grabbed the letter from his hands, reading it quickly before whining loudly, punching the door again.

“Daddy, that was _rude_!” he yelled, and suddenly the gem on the ribbon at his neck sparkled, and light engulfed the room. Carlos shut his eyes, groaning as he heard a loud explosion, but oddly, he wasn’t hurt at all. When the light died down, he opened his eyes to see the door a little more charred and singed than before, and Cecil was panting.

That light attack clearly hurt whatever it was behind that door, Carlos realised, when he saw the tentacles writhing about less actively than before.

Another letter slipped out from beneath the door, and Carlos picked it up for Cecil. The magical girl smiled at him, a little breathless, and together they read the letter.

 _Cecil, baby, darling, please don’t cry, don’t be mad, daddy loves you very much, daddy is just worried for you. He doesn’t want to wipe any more tears away, okay_?

Carlos blinked at this, and he realised Cecil’s hands were shaking slightly, and his eyes were beginning to water. His eyes widened in surprise, but Cecil gently grasped his hand, shaking his head, before pressing his forehead to the door.

He whispered something Carlos couldn’t hear, it was too soft to understand, but it seemed like the creature behind the door understood, and relented, calming down before disappearing.

“Uh, Cecil?” Carlos asked, and his head whipped up to look at Carlos, eyes sparkling with tears he couldn’t understand. “Hey, it’s okay. Whatever happened, uh, it’s okay. I’m okay.”

Cecil bitterly nodded, and at this Carlos sighed fondly, before pulling him into a hug. Cecil’s eyes widened and his stiffened up in surprise in Carlos’ arms, before slowly, tentatively, relaxing.

“Your dad’s just like any other dad—protective, he’s, well, yeah, he tried killing me, but that’s just because he loves you. Don’t get mad at him, okay? That’s what moms and dads just do.”

“I don’t have my mother anymore.” Cecil quietly said, and Carlos’ eyes widened, as he pulled away from Cecil to look at him properly.

“… Oh. God, sorry, I, uh,” he stammered, but Cecil shook his head, smiling.

“It’s okay.” He simply said, and Carlos sighed, before pulling out his handkerchief to wipe gently at the corner of Cecil’s eyes.

“I was going to tell you and Dana and whoever else is in the station to evacuate, you know, after all this, but, well, it seems like just a big misunderstanding,” he said, pressing his handkerchief into Cecil’s hands, “So I won’t. Dry your eyes, okay? It doesn’t suit magical girls to be crying.”

Cecil smiled slightly, and Carlos chuckled, “That is, if magic really did exist.”

“It does,” Cecil replied, but there was little venom in his voice and a smile was making its way onto his lips. “It really, really does.”

Carlos smiled at him, awkward, before pulling away completely. “Yeah, well… your station has some pretty interesting radiation readings. I’m going to come back soon for more data.”

“I’d love that,” Cecil replied, and Carlos grinned.

“I knew you would,” he replied, before giving Cecil a small wave. “I gotta go. Team waiting up for me, probably worried that I’m dead or something.”

“Go right ahead.” Cecil nodded. “I’m sure Daddy won’t come after you while I’m here.”

Carlos laughed weakly. “Hah, yeah, I guess…” he nodded, “Right, I’d better go now.”

“O-oh, wait!” Cecil called after him, as Carlos began to walk away. The man stopped, turned to look at him as he jogged to catch up, before pulling out a small sheet of paper from between the folds of his skirt. “Here, my-my number. If you needed to call, or something.”

Carlos looked at Cecil for a moment, before nodding, taking the paper from Cecil.

“I’ll keep in touch if I need any help.” He said, and Cecil’s smile widened.

“Thank you.”

Carlos gave him one last smile, before walking away.

Left on his own, Cecil gripped Carlos’ handkerchief in his hands, before looking down at the plain chequered designed cloth, and giggling happily, hugging the handkerchief close to his chest.

“Oh, Carlos,” he breathed, as light enveloped him, his clothes changing back to his usual work attire. He could care less, as all his attention was on the little square of cloth Carlos gave him.

“Neat.”


End file.
